Three branches of the Bill Belichick coaching tree on display at Iowa

Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, his son, Brian, and Penn State's Bill O'Brien all worked under the New England Patriots head coach.

York, PA - They could call it the Belichick Triangle on Saturday night in Iowa City.

From Kirk Ferentz to son Brian Ferentz to Bill O'Brien.

When Penn State and Iowa meet, there will be plenty of shared experiences between the coaches on both sides.

All three men worked under New England Patriots' Super Bowl head coach Bill Belichick.

Kirk Ferentz coached with him in the mid-1990s with the Cleveland Browns.

Brian Ferentz coached under Belichick and alongside O'Brien, who was the Patriots' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach before taking over at Penn State.

O'Brien and Brian Ferentz worked together from 2009-11 and helped the Patriots advance to two Super Bowls. Ferentz joined his father at Iowa this spring to coach the offensive line.

So in preparation for Penn State's trip this weekend to Iowa, O'Brien and Kirk Ferentz talked about the influence of their mentor.

"I would tell you it's the discipline of the team," O'Brien said of what he learned from Belichick. "Hopefully, we're not a very penalized team (at Penn State), hopefully we don't turn it over a lot. The way we practice, how we try to create a physical practice environment and situational football, we really try to work on that quite a bit."

The two coaches also talked about each other.

O'Brien got to know Kirk Ferentz through his son and during a scouting trip to evaluate former Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi.

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"So I watched first-hand what (Ferentz) did out there in spring practice, just does an excellent job of teaching fundamental, physical football, smart football."

Ferentz, meanwhile, praised O'Brien for having the forethought to leave a coordinator position on the college level to take on less responsibility and even less pay in the NFL -- all to learn under Belichick.

The so-called gamble has paid off well so far.

"Most people wouldn't do something like that at that age and that level and that stage of their careers," Ferentz said. "So I think it just tell you a lot about Bill (O'Brien). He's all about coaching, and he's just an excellent coach. He's done a great job there already."